Path: ccsf.homeunix.org!CALA-MUZIK!newsfeed.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp!nntp.gol.com!203.216.70.8.MISMATCH!not-for-mail From: CL Newsgroups: sci.lang.japan,fj.life.in-japan Subject: Re: "gaijin hanzai ura fairu" entire contents online Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 17:49:09 +0900 Organization: FusionGOL - Global Online Japan Lines: 95 Sender: crlipton@gol.com Message-ID: References: <1171357427.880787.198220@l53g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <53f8saF1s9ogaU1@mid.individual.net> <53fcvsF1sm56tU1@mid.individual.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: 58x157x15x30.ap58.ftth.ucom.ne.jp Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-2022-JP Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: nnrp.gol.com 1171442951 16204 58.157.15.30 (14 Feb 2007 08:49:11 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@gol.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:49:11 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.9) Gecko/20061207 Thunderbird/1.5.0.9 Mnenhy/0.7.5.666 In-Reply-To: <53fcvsF1sm56tU1@mid.individual.net> X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 000713-1, 2007-02-13), Outbound message X-Antivirus-Status: Clean Xref: ccsf.homeunix.org fj.life.in-japan:165195 John R. Yamamoto-Wilson wrote: > Jim Breen wrote: 8>< schnitt >> Having said that, he's fallen out with many of the gaijin-of- >> influence in Japan allegedly for reasons like his personality, >> which many say is obnoxious, total lack of tact, bull-at-the- >> gate approach to many issues, etc. etc. > > Well, yes, but I get the distinct impression that gaijin-of-influence in > Japan tend to be a bit like Lenny Henry ("the white man's black man"). > Of course someone who actually tackles the issues is going to cheese > them off. I do not consider myself a gaijin of influence, nor do I play one on daytime television. If I kissed up to the homeboys, I am sure my bank account would look completely different and I might have dyed my hair blonde, gotten some blue contacts, and be reading National Enquirer stories on Fuji Terebi at ten in the morning and inventing stories about Hollywood stars (no ... wait ... that job's been filled ...) instead of what I _am_ doing. I am satisfied with the way it has turned out and I am pretty sure I have the respect of the host nationals who I want to respect me. BUT ... I have got to say, I read some of his stuff and sincerely wonder which parallel universe Debit lives in. On my planet, in 23 years of residence, I have never been denied access to an onsen. And, that includes ryokan I've stopped off at without a reservation. I've never been stopped by the police in an airport for an ID check. But, I have been stopped by a detective at Haneda and asked if I could help explain to someone else (a Canadian, IIRC) why they wanted to look at his -- and he _was_ acting in a way that made them think he was shoplifting. (Okay, the cop was one of my neighbors when I lived in Ota-ku and we drank at the same izakaya, but why let facts ruin a good story.) I _have_ been refused entry at some places, often without asking for admission, but they were mostly hourly service businesses that offered the STD of the Day on their menu. And while some of the door people are rude, there is always a friendly chimpera who wants to steer you to a friendlier place, even if you're just taking a shortcut through the area. I've never been stopped when on my bicycle for an ownership check -- and I have commuted in town and toured by bicycle and motorcycle on all four main islands and a whole slew of the smaller ones. For the most part, I get access to the information I am looking for -- except for taxation. Of course, like any large system, Japan has its share of assholes who want to protect their little sinecure. In such cases it is best to remember the Japanese proverb that there are ten thousand roads that lead to the Buddha. No need to keep running head first into the same closed door. And it ain't because I have any special connections with anyone. But, I do act politely and treat the host nationals like human beings, even when they're not letting it be an exchange between equals. I've come to believe that some people go through life leading with their chin (the English one, not the Japanese one, which is another discussion altogether). Debit has always seemed like someone who refuses to let civility and common sense get in the way of a good political cause. He also seems to have things happen to him that I haven't seen happen to anyone else who wasn't responding to being in a hole by digging it deeper. > I can see that someone who shoots off as much as he does is going to > miss the mark sometimes, but the fact that he's shooting at all gets him > a higher rating than most "gaijin-of-influence" in my estimation, and > certainly higher than the people who moan about Japanese racism from one > side of their mouths and then take sneering side-swipes at "Debito-san" > from the other (which seems to be a standard pattern among quite few > foreigners). The way he goes about things and the constant "shooting off" does more to engender hard feelings where none need to exist -- or to cause serious issues to be dismissed simply because he's the one bringing them up and he's bringing them up in that same old worn out way. I find him tiresome and out of touch with reality. As far as Japanese racism ... what's the problem with simply acknowledging the fact and getting on with things? ("Ah, Nanani-san, you're a racist bastard? Why, so am I. You want to head down to the yattai and catch some miso chashuumen and couple of oyuwari? Yes? Okay, meet you outside."). No need for a web site. No need for the hair shirt. Trip up the bastards one at a time. CL